Thursday, February 26, 2015

WIMWI Sentiyapa - Chapter One

There is nothing else which incites nostalgia like how music
does. I am back from an awesome performance by the IIM A music club at CT. The
realisation has dawned on me that the number of days left on campus can be
counted on finger tips. Hence, this sentiyapa.

If there is one thing that IIM A has taught (or atleast
tried), it is the art of bringing structure to one’s thoughts. Thus, despite my
left brain screaming at my right brain for making things all methodical and
uncreative, my right brain has quietly won this battle.

Chapter One
– People

It’s been over 25 years that I have been roaming around this
earth. The bunch of people that I saw in the last two years were unlike any
that I had seen before. A bunch of highly driven, intellectually sharp,
go-getters.

I still remember the first time I met my batchmates. It was
in Café Mateo in Indiranagar, Bangalore where some 20 of us met. There was a
feeling of childlike anticipation and excitement about the coming two years.
That meeting and the early few months of IIM A were spent in sizing each other
up. At the end of this sizing up exercise one thing was clear – the peer group
was the best that one could hope for. It was a bunch of people who not only had
the best academic record in the country, they also possessed some of the best
extracurricular abilities.

PGP1 is tough. And tough times bring out the worst in people.
From the beginning of PGP1 till the end of summer placement process it was
interesting to see how people coped up with the stress. By then it was easy to
figure out who all I wanted to spend my time with.

Come PGP2 and things change drastically. I made new friends
and strengthened the bond with the old ones. It was much fun to be out of the
grinding PGP1 schedule and have the time to spend hours in tapri with anybody
and everybody. Exchange raised the fun one notch up. Travelling is the best way
of knowing people and making friends.

Some of the well-known institutes from eastern India talk
about their culture and bonding. I must admit that IIM A doesn’t match up to
that level of camaraderie. I believe this is because of the fiercely
independent nature of individuals that we have here. I see individuals who are
capable of taking up any professional challenge that might come their way and
make their way out of it. It is so impressive that each and every person that I
have interacted with here exhibit the highest level of confidence. Being around
such people pushes you seek excellence, raise the bar and despise complacency.

I often tell this to my friends – it will be so much fun to
come back on campus for our 10th, 25th, 40th….
reunions, because I am sure all of us would have done exceedingly well
professionally and it will be interesting to see each other growing into business leaders.

I am glad IIM A happened. My life would have been incomplete
without this awesome bunch of people.